Saturday, July 27, 2013

Though it must be said that several of the artists
on the show this week approach the sound, rather than really recapitulate it to
its true definitions and indeed this has been one of the advantages and
disadvantages of dub techno over the years. It has been a limited genre in many
ways in that it necessitates adhering to a particular formula to work at its
best and its esching of dance floor for atmosphere has often led it to be marginalised
from the clubs to home listening. While this dependence on formula is necessary
to maximise the advabtages of its particular mechanisms, it has also lead to a
lack of innovation at times. The opposite is also true however, that the lack
of club expectation allows it to grow in different directions and its
dependence on atmosphere instead of rhythmic mechanisms also gives it greater
scope for silene, experimentation and even emotion.

There is a little bit of everything on this
weeks show.

Freund der Familie are a good case in
point. Their recent album “Alfa” on their own label almost totally ignores the
dance floor and looks only to mine a lot of atmospheric space at low BPM and
using a different array of beat templates. The track we play is more dub step
in approach, but the album is a diverse affair with plenty of other highlights
like the vocal lead “Goldie Wilson”.

One thing that FDFs album has in common
with S|EXP (Shaded Explorer) is a good balance between long and short tracks.
One of the mistakes of dub techno in the past ahs always been of the notion
that longer equals better when quite often the tracks have said all they need
to say after 4-5 minutes. Of course there is nothing like a long, monged bliss
out to dub techno, but you still need special tracks to go long distances and
it is nice to see a few artists try and piece their albums together in a more considred
way. “Shade’s Journey” (Eclipemusic, 2013) has one long track, “Atlantis” and
the rest come in at much less. The flow is thus a bit faster and also varied,
with a constant flux of textures and beat pressure.

There is also a few Spanish artists and/or
labels on the show today. Exium also deliver a short and sweet track to open
the show, also the opening track off their recent album “A Sensible Alternative
to Emotions”. The album is a lot more vigorous than the more atmospheric opener
“Dronid” as we also saw last week.

There is also something new from BLD an
otherwise unknown Barcelona-based artist. His track reminds me a lot of the
early Basic Channel track “Lyot (Maurizio mix)” for the rhythmic interaction, but BLD is a bit
smoother and modern, whereas the original has that classic crashing warehouse
drum sound.

Barcelona’s Subwax BCN label also continues
its steady release run. We feature at rack from their dub techno label by SAM
who has connections to the Fathers and Sons Productions label.

Orlando Voorn also had an album out recently on the Subwax house sublabel Subwax Excursions.

Sweden's Skyscaper (Anders Peterson) also has a recent and fascinating album called “Atmospheric
Stratification” of which we will play another track in the near future. Again,
a little unconventional as far as albums go, with five original and five
remixed tracks.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Another
interview tie-in this week on Cabeza de Vaca and Scanner FM. This week’s show is all about Eduardo de la Calle, a
figure of folk-lorish proportions here in Spain and who I just talked to for Resident Advisor .
There were many things that didn’t make the final interview, including the
opinions of many who I asked before talking to the man himself. Certainly he
was painted in colourful words by those I asked, from a recloose, to a sage-like figure living
in the mountain, whereas to some he is something of a charlatan. After having talked
to him I can quite equivocally confirm the opposite: that he is perhaps one of
the most genuine and authentic figures in modern dance music. He has a rich
spirituality that influences all his work and it is both far fetched, as any
belief should be, and tangible enough to keep you pursuing.

There is a couple of essential points on
the video interview he did several years ago for Victor Santana’s Chaval
Records label that are worth a look in. It is in Spanish with English
subtitles.

There is also plenty of other good Spanish
music on the show this week, giving more fuel to the fire that the scene is
raging and very much alive here. Above all is perhaps the continuing run of the
Soullless Lab Recordings label who have just released Isometric Axis 2, another essential
compilation that you can grab for free if hard up, though as always, better to
support the artists and label with what you can. I t would be great to see some
of this stuff on vinyl if possible.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

For only
the second time we focus an entire show on one artist. First was shed, but this
week it is the turn of Boris Bunnik to fill the full hour of Cabeza de Vaca on Scanner FM. Most recognisable as Conforce, he is however using
eight different names for his work.

There is plenty of biographical detail in
the show as well as a bit of analysis and interpretation. In addition there has
been a significant contribution from Boris himself who generously don

ated some
time to answer some quick questions by email which will suffice for notes for
today. The good news is there is already a new Conforce album on the way,
scheduled for October.

CdV:
You grew up in Terschelling, but are you still based in Leeuwarden or have you
moved on again? Was the photo for the “Machine Conspiracy” album taken in
Terschelling? I find the image somehow quite representative of your style as it
somehow conveys the idea of “atmosphere” which is paramount to your tracks. How
much of that kind of island and low-land geography influences you?

BB:
I think the pace here is what is most influential on what I make and do to be
honest. The further you go up North the calmer the pace somehow.

I'm
not aware of a specific atmosphere, it's a sub concious thing. But looking back
you might be able to declare or relate sounds/music to a certain environment.

The
image from the machine conspiracy album was taking on the island indeed. I go
there every once in a while but my main city at the moment is Leeuwarden.

We
have space, I think it's always present in the music.

CdV:
You also work as a photographer and designer. Your other photos are often
architectural and geometric to emphasise “form and function” and even dystopian
ideas yet you have said that a lot of your music is “non-linear” which seems to
work against this idea of “physical control” or “architectural” production
methods. What would you say then are your non-musical influences on your sound?

BB:
I don't like to pinhole things but when it comes to photography I would say i'm
a guerrilla street photographer. It's something i'm developing every day and
planning to exhibit in the future.

When
it comes to photography/electronic music and artwork. I do love symmetry, textures, lines, grids etc Abstract
stuff.

As
electronic music remains very repetetive. I love the subtle evolvements.

Non-musical
influences are mainly travel experiences, conversations with people and the
empty moments where you have time to clear the mind and get refreshed to be
able to start and enter new creative paths. So nature s very influential.

CdV:
Sticking a bit with the Netherlands, you have tended to release mostly on Dutch
labels. How important has the community there been to you? One curiosity I also
always had was with language and was always fascinated by artists from say
Netherlands or Germany releasing track and album names in English. It is
obvious from an accessability point of view, but have you ever considered using
more of the Dutch language to express this idea of community or origin, for
example?

BB:
I don't really feel part of a community, maybe a bit in my own town because
there is something creative expanding here.There are a few down to earth like
minded people here I can go along with very well. Shared passion and
friendships are the base.

I
think the web connects communities and this helped me to establish and get
inspired for sure.

I
have a strong relation with the Dutch labels and I like to keep it this way.
Communication in your own language is a lot better and somehow more
trustworthy. The music should have a proper platform. Delsin and Clone offer
this. I have a lot of confidence in them also on the long term. I've stepped a
bit away from the of releasing tiny bits on labels all over the globe. It's a
bit strange sending a personal product over to someone you really don't know,
and you may hope you get your little amount of money for it.

It's
abstract.

Never
felt the urge to use dutch titles because it sounds pretty retarded. I can't
take it serious because the titles get too much attention or something.

It's
so explicit. Music is a universal language so why not use universal language
track titles.

CdV:
You have now used up to 8 aliases Conforce, Hexagon, K2vx, Mi-24, Silent
Harbour, Vernon Felicity, Versalife and even Boris Bunnik! Except for Conforce
and your earlier work under your own name, most of these aliases seemed to have
started around the time of the Conforce “Escapism” album. Was that coincidence
or was it a way to kind of escape (sic) the success that Conforce was achieving
at the time and give you a bit more freedom to explore creatively?

BB:
Freedom of expression and fun mainly, yes.

Diversity
is really important to me. And Using the names helps me to focus a bit more.

But
in the end it's all me. It really isn't about the name but about the music but
for me it's a way the get a way of the whole perception you create.

Maybe
I'm too stubborn to do just one thing, always resisting routine. Sometimes I
think I have audio schizophrenia. My brain works like this, it gets bored
easily. Sometimes this is an advantage. There was a sort of fusion going on as
well of all projects in the new Conforce album that will be released on Delsin
at the end of October.

CdV:
In an interview with “What people say” you mentioned that each of the aliases
is a kind of mood which is very clear: Versalife is more electro, Conforce more
Dub for example. But are there any hardware and or software differences as well
behind the names to help keep them apart, or are your moods drawn to different
equipment or processes in the studio?

BB:
It's all mood related. Of course instruments colour your music but it also
depends on how you control them and shape them.

But
in general the timbres are coming from the same pieces of gear.

CdV:
How do you play live these days in terms of the aliases? Do you now get a lot
of bookings for Versalife and people come expecting the Conforce sound? Is
Vernon Felicity more of a live project and Conforce a DJ, for example?

BB:
Depends on what people want. As conforce live I play very diverse livesets. Not
the typical loopy orientated sets most people do, or over conceptualized.

I
can go a bit more deeper or more focussed on the floor. It's about the balance.

Versalife
is only live. With other projects I don't have any ambitions to go on stage
with a specific sound. That was never the intention to conceptualize it.

Also
with the Versalife project, it just was there. No concept.

CdV:
K2vx and Mi-24 so far have only one track each. Will you keep developing these
aliases or were they just one offs? Is there any meaning behind the names?

BB:
No they were fun projects and I shared a fetish for Russian helicopters with
Jorn from other heights. That's why.

Another
program of classic house tracks this week on Cabeza de Vaca and Scanner FM.
It is perhaps a telling sign that there is still a lot of compilations
appearing focusing on early house sounds and not early Detroit techno, for
example. Indeed, I make a comment in the show about a line in a recent review
of a Rick Wilhite single on Resident Advisor in
which Will Lynch opens with the line:

“Detroit house carries a lot more weight
than Detroit techno these days”

Most of the focus has been on Chicago, but that
is also not to say that there hasn’t been plenty of interest in Detroit house
either. There is certainly a lot of older compilations focussed on this
subject, but maybe it is only a matter of time before something specific sees
the light of day again?

This week we play something from Walt J who
I know almost nothing out and my research before the show didn’t find anything
substantial on him to present either. Another artist who remains unknown is
Choo-Ables who had only this single on the Miami E-SA Records label. Another
man who you might have thought would release more is DJ International boss Rocky Jones who only
released two or three 12”s although he did have a hand in producing Fingers
Inc.’s classic “Mysteries of love”.

One of the highlights of the show is
clearly the chance to listen to Jesse Saunders“On and on” again. You can hear
all the main house tropes in there somewhere, but there are times when it feels
very New Wave, just like some of Jesse Saunders other pre-“On and on” tracks
that came out on last year’s Still Music compilation “122 BPM: The Birth of
House Music”. “Fantasy” has the same bass line and even some gnarly guitars,
whereas the kick drum is more resistant to dropping into a straight 4-4
pattern.

“(I like to do it in) fast cars” is more
New Wave even, sounding like a lo-fi Blondie or any other synth pop group from
the early 80s. There is very little trace of house in this track relatively and
is clearly the last departure point.

Marshall Jefferson’s “House music anthem”
is another essential piece of the puzzle, whether its claim to be the first
piano-led house track is true or not. An anthem it certainly is, with the said
piano bringing a jazz sophistication to it that was and still is hard to pull
off to such as level as achieved in the psychedelic coda. My old vinyl copy
could use a little bit more depth to the sound, but it is getting pretty old
now! There are many different versions of this track, with slightly different
variations of the same including this “Move your body” version which jumps straight
in with the piano and adds a lot of width to the hi hats.

There is also the epic 20 track remix
project released on Ultra Records last year if you reall cant get enough.

One feature that I have wanted to explore
more is also the term “jack” and where it has gone from the modern electronic
music vocabulary. Early house music history is full of albums called “The house
that jack built” or calls to “jack your body” like in the Marshall Jefferson
track. What does it really mean and where did it go?

In this instructional dance video the
teacher defines it as such (start around 2:45):

“The Jack is the way your body gets the
rhythm of the music”

A second video gives almost the same
definition:

“Jacking is just moving your body
basically.”

The technique here is a little different,
using the same knees-bent push up while rolling the body, but after a lean
forward, meaning that unless you are really fast, the down beat move will be
every second beat and not every beat like in the first video.

This pretty essential dance vocabulary
video also has a variation “Jack-in-the-box” that seems like a variation of the
jack shown in the previous videos, but with more upper body movement (Check
around 2:40).

Although most people aren’t dancing like
this in clubs, it is still a mystery of why it disappeared as a term. Is it something
to do with its over use in early house culture? Did it lose a sexual meaning
that was fundamental to its power? Perhaps it is still active in sub-cultures?